Street push broom



June 9, 1936. H J, LAY 2,043,758

STREET PUSH BROOM Filed Sept. 13, 1935 Patented June l9, 1936 N UNITEDSTATI-:s

PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

Thisinvention relates to-brooms and more particularly to street gutterbrooms of the push type.

With street brooms of the `push type as now .constructed and in generaluse,considerable difficulty isexperienced in sweeping fine as well .ascoarse particles of dirt atone operation owing to the fact that the.bristles .for .flbersof the broom head are generally relatively stiffand of uniform size and density .throughout the ,entire effectivebrushing area of the broom head `with the result that while the stiffbristles or -iibers will move the heavy dirt particles or refuse in the`act of sweeping, the fine material or dirt particles will not beaffected thereby. ,This necessitates the use of ltwobrooms if athoroughly clean surface is desired, one for 7moving ,heavy lparticlesand the `other for `moving fine particles` which .dual oper-`ationgnotonly increases the .cost of equipment of a street cleaningdepartment butlikewise Vprolongs and increases the .labor of .the streetsweeper.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to overcome theseobjectionable features and to provide a push broom, certain of thebristles or fibers of which are relatively stiff and coarse and othersrelatively ne so that as the broom is pushed over a gutter or othersurface to be cleaned, the forward row of coarse bristles will loosenand move the heavy particles of dirt while the rear row of finerbristles will loosen and move the finer material with the result thatboth ne and coarse material may be removed from the gutter at onesweeping operation and thereby eliminate the use of an extra broom andconsequently reduce the cost of equipment and labor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a push broom havingrelatively coarse and fine bristles mounted in the head thereof with thecoarse bristles arranged in advance of the fine bristles and of a lengthshorter than the ne bristles so that when the broom is supported at theproper angle for sweeping purposes and a slight downward pressure isexerted on the head of the brooml in the act of sweeping, the lower endsof the fine bristles will be flexed rearwardly thus causing the activeends of both sets of bristles to aline horizontally on the surface to becleaned and all ne particles of dirt not acted upon by the coarsebristles will be loosened and moved by the relatively fine rear bristlesand a thorough cleaning of the gutter or other surface operated uponeffected.

Further objects and advantages will appear in the accompanyingspecification, in which similar numerals of reference indicatecorresponding parts inall the figures of the drawing:

Figure l is a perspective View of .a street gutter broom of the pushtype constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view-showing the normal positionofthe relatively coarse and fine brushing tufts.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the position of the tufts in theactof sweeping.

The improved broom forming the subjectmatter of the present invention,is of the `push type and comprises a head 5 preferably *oblong in shapeand formed of wood or other suitable material, the ends of the headbeing preferably reinforced and strengthened by metallic bands 6. Formed-in the central portion of the head Slis a diagonally disposed taperedopening 1 whihconstitutes a socket .for the reception of thecorrespondingly tapered end of an operating handle 8 by means of whichthe broom may be pushed over ;a gutter or other surface to be cleaned.Depending from Vthe `head5 and secured thereto in any suitable mannerare front and rear rows of brushing tufts S and I0. The forward brushingtufts 9 are made from relatively coarse stiff bristles or fibers andsaid tufts are designed to remove heavy dirt particles or refuse whilethe rear tufts lll are made from relativelyl fine bristles or fibers andare adapted to remove fine particles of dirt and other material notacted upon by the forward coarse brushing tufts. The upper ends of thetufts 9 and l0 are compressed and fitted in sockets or seats Il formedin the lower face of the head 5 and may be secured therein in anysuitable manner as by cementing and driving nails or similar fasteningdevices l2 within the sockets and in engagement with the compressed endsof the tufts. It will be understood, however, that these tufts may besecured within the head in any suitable manner and it is not desired tolimit the invention in this respect. The lower ends of the fibersconstituting the forward tufts 9 terminate short of the lower ends ofthe fibers constituting the tufts I0 so that when the broom is not inuse the lower ends of the tufts will be offset with respect to eachother to form a step i3. In other words, the lower ends of the tufts I0normally project below the lower ends of the tufts 9 so that when thebroom is placed at the proper angle for sweeping purposes and a slightdownward pressure exerted on the handle 8, the lower projecting ends ofthe fine tufts I0 will be flexed or deflected rearwardly and cause theends of both sets of tufts to lie in the same horizontal plane and thuspresent a substantially smooth surface to the ground.

In using the broom, the head thereof is supported at the angle shown inFigure 3 of the drawing and the brush head pushed over the surface to becleaned in the usual manner by means of the handle 8. On the initialforward movement of the brush head, heavy particles of material andrefuse will be loosened and moved by the roW of coarse tufts 9 and allfineparticles too small to be acted upon by the coarse tufts 9 will beacted upon by the line fibers of the tufts I so that a gutter or othersurface may be thoroughly cleaned at one operation of the broom.Inasmuch as the tufts lli of ne material project below the ends of thetufts 9 of coarse material, when the broom is in use the flexing of thelower ends of the ne fibers of the tufts I!) Will exert a slight tensionon the surface being cleaned so that all of the finer particles of dirtand refuse are thoroughly removed and the gutter left in a cleansanitary condition. The tufts of brooms now in general use are ofuniform stiffness and density with the result that only the coarsematerial and refuse is removed in the act of sweeping and if it isdesired to thoroughly clean a gutter it is necessary to go over thepartially cleaned surface with another broom having fine bristles. Thepresent invention provides a broom by means of which both the coarse andfine particles of material are removed at one operation, thereby notonly effecting a saving in the cost of brooms for a street cleaningdepartment, but also decreasing the time and labor of the streetsweeper.

Any style or type of bristles or fibers for the tufts may be employedand any desired number of rows of tufts used, it being essential,however, that the tufts of fine bristles be arranged at the rear of thetufts of coarse bristles so that said fine bristles will remove anyparticles of dirt not acted upon by the coarse bristles. It will, of

course, be understood that the brooms may be made in different sizes andshapes and constructed of any suitable material without departing fromthe spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A broom of the push type comprising a head, an unobstructed row ofbrushing tufts of relatively coarse material depending from the headalong the forward portion thereof and adapted 10 to initially anddirectly engage and move material forwardly when the broom is pushed ina forward direction, and a row of tufts of relatively ne materialdepending from the head back of the coarse tufts for subsequentlyengaging and moving forwardly material not acted upon and carriedforwardly by said coarse tufts.

2. A broom of the push type comprising a head, front and rear rows ofbrushing tufts depending from the head, the front row of tufts being ofrelatively coarse material and adapted to initially and directly engageand move material when the broom is pushed in a forward direction andthe tufts of the rear row being formed of relatively fine material andlonger than the tufts of the front row to form a pronounced step atapproximately the center of the working surface of the broom.

3. A broom of the push type comprising a head, front and rear rows ofbrushing tufts depending from the head, the front roW of tufts beingformed of relatively coarse material and the rear row of tufts beingformed of finer material with the lower end portions of the rear row oftufts extended below the lower ends of the front row of tufts to form astep whereby when the broom is in use the stepped ends of the rear rowof tufts will be deflected rearwardly and upwardly and exert a tensionon the surface to be cleaned thereby to move all llne particles ofmaterial not acted upon by the coarse brushing tufts.

HARRY J. LAY.

